Monday, October 12, 2009

Never Cry Werewolf

Author: Heather Davis

Pages: 216

Published: HarperTeen, September 1 2009

Genre: Paranormal romance

Cover score: B+ (love the Little Red Riding Hood allusion)

Overall Grade: B

What it's about: Shelby has had bad luck with keeping her dad and stepmother's trust, but it's the last straw for them when she's out past midnight and curfew: ten-plus strikes and she's out. For Shelby, it's goodbye, prom in Beverly Hills, hello, hiking and "self-discovery" brat camp in Oregon. Things start looking up, though, when she meets Austin Bridges III, rock star royalty and your typical bad boy. But Austin has a dangerous secret--he's a werewolf, and if he doesn't get the medications that the hippie counselors confiscated (along with all cell phones, sugar, and other connections to the outside world), then everyone at camp could be in danger, especially when there's a full moon coming...

My thoughts: I was super-excited to read this book! Camp, romance, werewolves, what could there be to not like? Parts of this book I really loved--Shelby herself was a great main character, just a bit too underdeveloped for me to understand fully. Also, the Pacific Northwest background gave the story a great setting. I could picture Camp Crescent in my head the whole time! I also loved this unique, lighter twist on a werewolf story. If you're interested in werewolves, but not a fan of dark fantasy, than I'd definitely recommend this to you.

My biggest problem was that the whole plot just seemed too short. With no real introduction, the story started moving right away with no time to get to know important characters or have any background information. It seemed that there was no real climax, and I was waiting for something to happen, but still there was no real aha! moment in the book (although there was lots of awesome werewolf action). The ending, too, was abrupt. Not room-for-a-sequel abrupt, just sort of a quick, get-it-over-with ending, which was highly disappointing for me. The romance between Austin and Shelby, too, seemed too quick as well and abrupt. There was no real lead-up, it was just bam!

However, this was a fun, entertaining, and quick read that I'd recommend picking up at the library, but not buying.